The All-Surpassing Power in Jars of Clay

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Awhile ago the Lord asked me to spend a very intense period of time denying myself and seeking his face. After a certain length of time I came to the end of my strength and could not go on for another second. I begged God to release me but he did not; instead, he asked me to continue. I knew I honestly could not go on another second unless he miraculously empowered me to do so. I had come to the end of myself.

This was the point that God wanted to bring me to so that I would not rely upon myself but upon him. “Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9).

This breaking point was the moment when God revealed to my heart the true meaning of 2 Corinthians 4:7 (quoted at the top). God broke me of a lot of pride and clearly showed me that I am nothing but an empty and extremely weak vessel and that God was the only power in me. I was completely powerless and helpless by myself.

I learned to delight in my weakness more than in my strength because when I am weak then the unlimited power of God is my strength. God revealed to my heart the true meaning of another Scripture at this time also, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, when the apostle Paul said, “But he [Jesus] said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Four different Hebrew words are written in the relief of this painting. The two spanning the top say “Yahweh” [the covenant name of God] and “powerful”. The two spanning the bottom say “weak” and “vessel”.